Volume 12 - Yomi-no-kuni: Chapter 55 – Banjo of Torment
“Kagami Lily! Put down your blade and surrender!” The Enki clung to the mountain wall, menacingly staring down at the young girl, who was scantily clad in mere strips of clothing and her underwear.
A vast horde of demons encircled Lily, foreboding a tragic fate for her.
Yet, intensifying her desperation, nearly ten figures converged upon her from nearby—Wakarai’s ten Empyrean Stage experts, including Yaiba among others. With Umashi’s subordinates also in pursuit, a total of fifteen Empyrean Stage experts now encircled Lily.
Engaging in a fight seemed a futile endeavor. A solitary Infernal powerhouse might require time to subdue Lily, yet here she faced an overwhelming number—rendering her situation seemingly hopeless.
“Everyone, although we serve different masters and this is our first encounter, our masters have agreed to capture this woman before proceeding further. Let’s cooperate and ensure this beauty has no chance to escape!” Yaiba, with his now-healed finger and hair fluttering, resolved not to underestimate Lily again.
“That makes sense! We must not squabble over credit and risk her escape!” declared the Infernal female demon as she swung her whip towards Lily, which suddenly lengthened and accelerated. “Surrender now!”
Despite Lily’s counter, the whip was raised again and struck her back forcefully, knocking her to the ground.
“Lynne!” Chiya, fueled by rage, flew towards her. But Wakarai intercepted, striking her with his lightning spear and sending her hurtling away.
With no one else to save her, Lily trembled as she struggled to rise from the debris-strewn ground.
“Get on your knees and surrender!”
“We don’t want to hurt you further! Surrender now to lessen your suffering!” The fifteen powerhouses pressured her, their eagerness mirrored by the Big Dipper demons surrounding them.
Trembling, Lily clenched her sword, Oborozuki Muramasa. “Never… If you want to catch me, then come at me!” she declared with fierce determination, as crimson spirit power surged within her. Despite her nearly depleted Hazy Lunar Force, she was resolved to fight until her last breath.
Determined to win, Lily faced the looming threat with unyielding resolve. There was no room for fear or hesitation—she was ready to fight.
“Foolish!” grunted Yaiba, his voice echoing with disdain.
“We’re not afraid to risk our lives. Our only fear is reprimand for scarring your beautiful face and body! Hahahahaha!” chuckled a fat man clad in loose red trousers, wielding a black iron fan inscribed with ancient runes. This was Jamako, one of the forty-eight evil monks from Yomi-no-kuni and a formidable Kunitsukami among the fifteen powerhouses.
Jamako hurled a beaded net towards her, each bead as heavy as a boulder, spanning wide to cover all escape routes. Surrounded by the fifteen powerhouses, Lily found herself trapped, with no chance to dodge.
“B̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲!” Lily exclaimed, slashing her Oborozuki Muramasa to release a surge of blade energy. Despite her efforts, the net—both incredibly tough and flexible—proved indestructible. As it closed in on her, Lily found herself without options.
With a thunderous crash, a blue demon with the head of an elephant burst from the ground behind her. This Quintuple-soul Big Dipper demon wrapped its arms around Lily, preparing to drag her underground.
As Lily instinctively turned to stab her a.s.sailant, a sudden idea halted her actions. Instead of resisting, she allowed the elephant-headed demon to pull her underground.
“What?” The powerhouses were stunned, the net unexpectedly preventing them from intervening. As the net fell to the darkened ground, it left nothing but a black crater; the area was completely deserted.
“That’s a Banjo from the h.e.l.l of Torment. Not particularly strong, they specialize in dragging women deeper into torment for punishment. Lily nearly subdued by a horse demon earlier, yet she fought back. But why surrender now… Perhaps she’s depleted?” Jamako mused, puzzled.
“This sly wretch!” Enki roared. “She willingly let that Bansho drag her away. Strong enough to hold her own against me—how could she succ.u.mb so easily to a quintuple-soul demon? She’s chosen capture over defeat by our hands!”
“Enough talk! We must pursue her now!” the female demon insisted.
“But below lies the Banjo Female Prison h.e.l.l—tricky and perilous,” another cautioned.
“Absurd! If we hesitate, will our lords forgive fifteen powerhouses who let a woman escape?” interjected a red-faced demon, oddly attired.
“Chase her!”
With that command, Jamako gathered the net, and all the powerhouses dove into the tunnel or began furiously digging new ones, using their formidable strength to chase after Lily.
At that moment, the Banjos, endowed with special abilities to traverse the rugged terrain, moved much faster than the powerhouses laboriously digging tunnels.
The Banjo pulled Lily through the stone layer into the deeper underground. Here, rivers of purplish-red lava flowed across the black stone terrain, accompanied by eruptions and waves of the same eerie hue—a bizarre vision of h.e.l.l.
With a loud crash, the robust Banjo collapsed to the ground as Lily gracefully leapt aside. No sooner had she landed in this strange h.e.l.l than the Banjo lay dead.
Lily struck him down in a single, unnoticed blow. The Banjo had underestimated her, deceived into thinking she’d lost all will to resist because she hadn’t fought back during their descent. Regardless of his vigilance, Lily’s strike would have been fatal.
The Banjo intended to take Lily to the Banjo Female Prison h.e.l.l for punishment. Ironically, his actions facilitated her escape from the encirclement of fifteen powerhouses.
However, Lily was aware that the powerhouses would soon catch up. Escaping from fifteen Empyrean Stage powerhouses as a Big Dipper was something they would not easily tolerate.
If they realized that Lily was only at the Throned Stage, their frustration might well have been palpable enough to induce physical distress.
Intermittently, the area echoed with the painful, tragic screams of women. Sheltered by the mountain, Lily surveyed her surroundings cautiously. In a nearby deep valley, a group of veiled women, escorted by a dozen Banjo demons, moved toward an unclear destination.
Swiftly and stealthily, Lily slipped from the rock crevices into the valley, donning a veil to blend in with the group of women. The women, their hands bound and clothes torn and revealing, were all linked by rope. Lily, already in similarly disheveled attire, needed no change to fit in.
As they turned a corner in the valley, Lily subtly severed a section of the rope, feigning a re-tie with her spirit power before collapsing to the ground.
“What’s going on?” A formidable Banjo approached, spotting the cut rope on Lily. He whipped her repeatedly before yanking her up by the arms-bound rope, reattaching it to another woman’s ahead, and hastened her forward.
Lily, head bowed, silently continued walking with the group of veiled, captive women through the valley.
The Banjo’s voice boomed across the valley, admonishing the captive women. “Walk faster! You disgraceful women, culprits of heinous acts in Takamagahara, Yomi, and the mortal realm! Your shamelessness has so disturbed the celestial order that you have been cast down into this Banjo Female Prison h.e.l.l. Eternal torment awaits you here. Did you ever contemplate this fate while indulging in your immoral escapades?”
Upon hearing this, many of the women began to cry, while others stood dazed by the harrowing reality.
Lily observed that many among them resembled Celestial Maidens, likely having originated from Takamagahara.
Women from the mortal realm were less common. Such individuals not only had to have engaged in severe moral transgressions but also possessed strength beyond the Permanence Stage to maintain their physical forms in this harsh environment.
Despite being innocent of such transgressions, Lily endured the same scolding, feeling a flush of embarra.s.sment. Yet, her primary concern was escape. Escaping alone in this place would likely lead to swift recapture.
Suddenly, the sky filled with the formidable auras of numerous powerful beings.
“Where has that woman gone?”
“I don’t know!”
“d.a.m.n it!”
As Lily moved stealthily through the dense fog at the valley’s base, she could still make out the distant shouts of the pursuing powerhouses.
“We must be close to her. If she used spirit power to flee, we would detect it at once! If she’s hiding her aura, she can’t be far. Let’s split up and search!”
Lily recognized the voice; it was Yaiba. Consequently, numerous powerful auras began sweeping through the Banjo Female Prison h.e.l.l, intensively searching for Lily. With a loud thud, the white-haired elderly vagrant, Yaiba, descended swiftly into the valley, embedding his damaged blade into the mountain wall.
The procession of veiled women continued forward, their faces marked by pain or numb resignation. The Banjo’s whip lashed out at the women sporadically, regardless of their compliance.
Their trek through this h.e.l.lish realm of cruelty and torture was just beginning, with no end in sight—only the grim prospect of their souls shattering under the strain. Meanwhile, Lily lowered her head and let her black hair fall loosely, blending in with the group.
Yaiba’s divine sense meticulously scanned each woman present. Despite this, Lily remained unnoticeable as she effectively suppressed her aura, further aided by her Throned Stage which made her less conspicuous when dormant.
Yaiba initially overlooked those at the Throned Stage, focusing on more likely candidates. In a sudden move, he leapt down into the valley, seizing the arm of a woman standing nearly ten meters ahead of Lily.
Lifting her veil, he quickly realized his mistake; not only was it the wrong woman, but her physique also markedly differed from Lily’s. His action was driven more by his mounting frustration than reason. The woman, a Big Dipper of Yomi, was released as he moved on.
The rest of the captured women, seemingly oblivious or indifferent to the disturbance, continued on their path, shuffling forward while lost in their own despair.